Pressure D and pounding the ball keys NU’s success

The Huskers 10-3 win over Oklahoma marked the first time in the Bob Stoops era at OU that the Sooners failed to score a touchdown in a game. That is a big accomplishment and it goes back to one of the keys of the game I talked about on Friday’s Big Red Report.

It was important for the defensive line to put pressure on freshmen quarterback Landry Jones and they did that all night. They only registered two sacks, but he just could not get comfortable back there all night. That pressure led to five interceptions, three coming from safety Matt O’Hanlon and after that Virginia Tech game, O’Hanlon was looking for some redemption.

The first interception set the Huskers up with first and goal from the and an easy one yard touchdown pass for Zac Lee.

One of those sacks came from linebacker Phillip Dillard and two interceptions happened late in the fourth quarter and that’s what I noticed is the defense kept coming after Jones, there was no let up. You’ll hear Dillard talk about the Blackshirts digging in.

The other key to the game was not just the Huskers running game, but the running game with Roy Helu. He’s been banged up the last couple of weeks and the offense has struggled. Helu finished with 20 carries and net gain of 138 yards on the ground including a 63 yard run.

There is still plenty of work that needs to take place on offense. The Huskers were 1 for 14 in third down conversions and the passing game was non-existent. 7 of 14 for a net 39 yards between Cody Green who got the start and Zac Lee who came on in the 2nd quarter.